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Safety
Matters
■
Schools and academies –
health and safety
implications
ASE Safeguards Committee
When a school becomes an academy, what
health and safety matters need to be
considered by the science department?
The question relates to England only,
where a school becomes an academy1.
When a local authority (LA) school (i.e. a
community or voluntary controlled school)
becomes an academy, the governing body
of the new Academy Trust becomes the
employer and takes on all health and
safety responsibilities. The LA is no longer
the employer and relinquishes
responsibility for the health and safety of
the academy pupils and staff employed by
the academy.
In other types of maintained school, for
example voluntary-aided, the employer is
the school governing body, not the LA.
When such a school becomes an academy,
the governing body of the new Academy
Trust becomes the new employer (but the
school governors can become members of
the governing body of the Academy Trust).
It is possible that the change to academy
status might involve changes to services
that were supplied by a LA or contractors.
Whatever type of school transfers to
academy status, the new employer must
prepare its own health and safety policy
which, among other things, needs to
explain the organisational responsibilities
and arrangements to ensure the health
and safety of the staff, pupils and others,
such as visitors. The employer must bring
this policy to the attention of all the
academy staff. This health and safety
policy should make clear the health and
safety responsibilities of subject leaders,
including that for science. It is surprising
sometimes that subject leaders have never
seen their establishment’s health and
safety policy, or are only vaguely aware of
it. Subject leaders should ask to see the
policy and make sure they understand
what is expected of them.
The employer has a duty under the
Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999 to make a suitable and
sufficient assessment of the risks to the
health and safety of his employees and
others not in his employment arising from
his undertaking. For science, this includes
providing suitable risk assessments,
guidance and information for preparing
and teaching practical work safely. Most
local authorities and independent school
employers in England do this through a
subscription to CLEAPSS. There have been
some instances where schools have
attained academy status and failed to
realise that they would not automatically
be members of CLEAPSS under the new
employer. The academy needs to subscribe
to CLEAPSS either directly, or
by arrangement with a LA (it need not be
the authority within which the academy
is located). If the governing body of the
Academy Trust does not subscribe, it must
make other suitable arrangements to meet
its statutory duty to provide suitable, upto-date risk assessments, guidance and
information to science staff; the governing
body must explain these arrangements to
the subject leader for science.
There are a number of statutory health
and safety checks on equipment and
services that must be made. In some
cases these may have been arranged
through a contractor procured by the
LA. The academy will need to check these
and make new arrangements (or buy into
a LA arrangement) where necessary. The
checks relevant to secondary science are
listed below.
■ Periodic tests on portable electrical
appliances (PAT); usually annual, or at the
periods recommended by the IEE Code of
Practice for inspection and testing of
electrical equipment*
■ Tests on fume cupboard performance
at least every 14 months*
■ Periodic tests on pressure vessels, such
as model steam engines and autoclaves*
■ Leak tests on sealed radioactive
sources at least every 24 months*
Presently, there are no state-funded academies, of the type in England, in other parts
of the UK.
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26 EiS
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November 2011
■ Periodic inspections and tests of fixed
wiring installations; usually at least every
5 years as recommended by the IET wiring
regulations
■ Periodic inspection and maintenance
of fire extinguishers; usually annually
■ Periodic checks on gas appliances,
flues and installation pipework; usually
annually for appliances and flues.
* Can be undertaken by suitably trained and
competent academy staff.
Insurance companies insure schools
against a wide range of risks. An academy
may choose different insurers from that
used by the LA. These insurers may
impose different requirements, for
instance, on the checking and
maintenance of equipment such as
autoclaves. They may also require a
different approach to risk assessment. Do
not assume that the insurance conditions
remain unchanged.
If the science department holds
radioactive sources, the academy will
need to consult, and if necessary appoint,
a radiation protection adviser. The
simplest option is to buy into a LA’s
arrangement (often organised through
CLEAPSS Radiation Protection Advice
Service) provided the LA is willing. This
need not necessarily be the LA in which
the academy is located. As an alternative,
the academy could appoint an RPA
directly, although this may turn out to be
a more expensive option. A list of suitably
qualified RPAs is available from CLEAPSS.
In due course, it may be possible to
arrange RPA cover directly through
CLEAPSS, although this option is not
available at the time of writing. It is worth
shopping around for RPA cover, as there
can be significant differences in the cost
from different providers.
Schools with radioactive sources must
re-notify the HSE where there are
significant changes to an existing
notification to work with ionising
radiations, e.g. if a school changes to an
academy. This can be done at: notification
for.ionisingradiation@hse.gsi.gov.uk